Picture above: Civic Society members at Ottilie technical rehearsal. Photo Steve Fearn, Cirencester Civic Society.
Cirencester Civic Society Outing
On Wednesday evening the Cirencester Civic Society members held a social evening at the Barn Theatre. However, as well as the welcome drinks and social chit chat, we were there to observe a special ‘behind the scenes’ experience of the latest Barn performance, which is Ottilie, The Forgotten Queen of the Blues. Showing 21st March to 19th April.
After our welcome by Civic Society chair, Carole Boydell, we were given a very interesting talk by Richard Jones, Head of Marketing & Communications at the Barn, and longstanding team member, about the history of the Barn Theatre. He explained how the theatre began as a fulfilment of a longstanding dream of owners Chrissie and Ian Carling, who are the driving force behind it.
Richard explained how the Barn has evolved from being a ‘receiving theatre’ to being a ‘producing theatre’. The Barn’s mission has been to produce some of the UK’s most inspiring professional theatre and to attract and nurture the best UK talent. Since opening to critical acclaim in 2018, it has become a major cultural attraction in the town, strengthening Cirencester’s reputation as a destination for arts and culture.
We were then invited to go into the theatre to watch the live technical rehearsals for Ottilie. We filled the back half of the theatre because the front had been transformed into a huge studio, complete with desks, a bank of computers and all the other technical paraphernalia. Plus several tecchies and other crew members.
It was very hot.
After an introduction by the director, Matthew Mcelhinney, we watched for around 45 mins as the various people went through one rather complicated scene with Jolene O’Hara (Ottilie) which involved several hanging props that had to be lowered and raised at exact moments in her song for her to interact with. All this was in conjunction with her mastering standing on a moving turntable!
Jolene was incredibly patient as the producers yelled ‘cut’ every two minutes and adjusted things and made her start over and over again. It must have been very tedious for her, and in between she looked exhausted, but every time she found the energy to spring up and start again.
The section we witnessed will probably only be a few minutes of the actual play, which shows how much work the team puts into all their productions.
Many thanks to Richard and the Barn team for giving us this insight.
You can buy tickets for Ottilie at barntheatre.org.uk or call 01285 648255
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